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White Fang is the title of a novel by United States author Jack
London. The novel was first serialized in The Outing Magazine in May
to October 1906. It is the story of a wild wolfdogs journey toward
becoming civilized in Yukon Territory, Canada, during the Klondike
Gold Rush at the end of the 19th century. White Fang is a companion
novel (and a thematic mirror) to Londons best-known work, The Call of
the Wild, which concerns a kidnapped civilized dog turning into a wild
animal.
Much of the novel is written from the view-point of animals, allowing
London to explore how animals view their world and how they view
humans. White Fang examines (sometimes graphically) the violent world
of wild animals and the equally violent world of supposedly-civilized
humans. The book also explores complex themes including morality and
redemption. White Fang has been adapted into a movie numerous times, including in 1991.
Plot Summary
The story begins before the three-quarters wolf-dog hybrid is born,
with two men and their sled dog team. The men, Bill and Henry, are
stalked by a large pack of starving wolves over a course of several
days. Finally, four more teams find Henry, after all his dogs have
been eaten and Bill has been killed, in a ring of coals from his fire
in an attempt to keep the wolves away. The story then follows the
pack, who have been robbed of their last prey. When the pack finally
manages to bring down a moose, the famine is ended; they eventually
split up, and the story now follows a she-wolf and her mate, One
Eye. The she-wolf gives birth to a litter of five cubs by the
Mackenzie River, and all but one die from hunger. One Eye leaves the
she-wolf because he is killed by a lynx while trying to rob its den
for food for the she-wolf and her cub. And the surviving cub and the
she-wolf are left to fend for themselves. The she-wolf later discovers
his remains near the lynx den.
The cub comes across five Native Americans one day, and the she-wolf
comes to his rescue. One man, Grey Beaver, recognizes the she-wolf as
Kiche, his brothers wolfdog, who left during a famine. Grey Beavers
brother is dead, so he takes Kiche and her cub, christening the cub
White Fang. White Fang has a harsh life in the Indian camp. The
current puppy pack, seeing him as a wolf, immediately attack him. He
is saved by the Indians, but the pups never accept him, and the leader
Lip-lip marks him out for special persecution. White Fang grows up
becoming more savage, morose, solitary, and a deadly fighter, "the
enemy of his kind."